New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter takes part in baseball practice on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, in Baltimore. The Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play Game 1 in the American League division series on Sunday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) less

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter takes part in baseball practice on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, in Baltimore. The Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play Game 1 in the American League division ... more

Photo: Patrick Semansky

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New York Yankees' Curtis Granderson takes part in baseball practice on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, in Baltimore. The Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play Game 1 in the American League division series on Sunday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) less

New York Yankees' Curtis Granderson takes part in baseball practice on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, in Baltimore. The Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play Game 1 in the American League division ... more

The 1996 AL championship series was a lifetime ago for many Orioles fans and a rather meaningless event in the development of Machado, now 20 and a key player in Baltimore's improbable, magnificent 2012 season.

Sixteen years after the Yankees ousted the Orioles from the playoffs and advanced to the World Series, the teams resume their rivalry Sunday night in Game 1 of the AL division series. It will be Baltimore's first home postseason game since 1997.

The Orioles spent much of the season chasing New York in the AL East, and now they have an opportunity to get the better of the Yankees in a far more significant scenario. After New York swept a three-game set in Baltimore in April, the Orioles rebounded to forge a split of the 18-game season series.

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"We've played those guys a lot this year. We know what they've got, they know what we've got," Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds said. "It'll come down to a big pitch or a big at-bat."

Or, the outcome could be influenced by a fan in pursuit of a souvenir. In the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, Maier stuck his glove over the right-field wall and appeared to rob Tony Tarasco of the chance to catch a deep fly hit by Derek Jeter. Umpire Rich Garcia called it a home run, and the Yankees won in extra innings en route to capturing the series 4-1.

Jeter and Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte, who won the decisive fifth game of that series, have been to many playoff series since. In this one, they enter as part of a team that went 14-4 down the stretch to finish with the AL's best record.

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AL Division Series Game 1

Yankees (Sabathia 15-6) at Orioles (Hammel 8-6)

When: 6:15 p.m. Sunday

Where: Oriole Park, Baltimore

TV: TBS

C6 • Verlander, Tigers beat Athletics.

And yet, the Yankees open the series on the road.

"That's the topic of discussion right now but, you know, this is a one-year thing and we're going to have to win some games on the road most likely anyway if we make it to the promised land," Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "We're not going to complain about starting the first two on the road."

And the Orioles? Well, they're delighted to be playing in front of their home fans, but really, they're just happy to be playing at this time of year — period.

After their abrupt exit from the postseason in 1996, the Orioles returned in 1997. Fourteen straight losing seasons followed before they put together an unimaginable 93-69 record this year under former Yankees manager Buck Showalter. For an encore, Baltimore beat the Texas Rangers and their best pitcher Yu Darvish 5-1 on Friday night in the one-game, win-or-go-home wild-card round.

The Yankees' first-game starter will be ace CC Sabathia (15-6, 3.38 ERA). The big left-hander came into the season 16-2 versus the Orioles and 10-1 in Baltimore, but that was against the old Orioles. This year, he went 0-2 in three starts at Camden Yards.

Showalter has selected Jason Hammel (8-6, 3.43) to start on the mound for the Orioles.

Pettitte follows Sabathia in Game 2, with Hiroki Kuroda starting Game 3 at Yankee Stadium and Phil Hughes pitching Game 4.